Harrogate owner thanks celebrity food critic for social media boost

The owner of an award-winning Harrogate restaurant which become a social media sensation has thanked celebrity food critic Jay Rayner for his support.

After owner Paul Rawlinson announced that Norse was to change its menu in tough times, Jay Rayner, the Observer’s restaurant critic and BBC Radio 4 food and drink broadcaster Tweeted his support for the ground-breaking restaurant and is calling for true food lovers to book a table there.
Paul said: “We are so grateful to Jay. Since eating with us, and writing a review in The Observer in 2014, he has kept up with what has been happening here and he’s very kindly supported us on a couple of occasions before.
“We really appreciate him taking the time to help us spread the word. Given the size of his audience, his involvement means conversation ends up happening at a national level.”
While still acknowledging its Nordic influence, Norse is now describing its menu as simply “modern food using Yorkshire produce” and is switching to a la carte.
Rayner’s very public support certainly attracted a huge amount of social media attention.
The Norse website had 12,000-plus hits despite breaking for most of the day after Rayner tweeted the link.
It also received 100,000 impressions on Twitter.
Others who Tweeted their support for Norse included Marina O’Loughlin of The Times.